Our Lady of Mercy Girls'

We had the Year 14 classes from Our Lady of Mercy school in last week. We spent time reflecting on life and faith and future. In discussion groups we talked about the things that make it difficult for us to have faith, like poverty and sickness in the world and bad things happening. We also talked about the things that affirm our faith like love and friendship and all the good that there is in the world.

Faith can be a bit of a tightrope walk, it can be very easy to have a wobble and it is natural to question and to have doubts. When we feel that our prayers are not being heard, let alone answered, it can be easy to doubt, but we should "Always pray and not give up..." Luke 18:1. "'I will let you find me' says the Lord." Jeremiah 29:14

For their prayer service the girls who came on Monday 27th September created the beautiful focus you can see above. This is what it means...

Circle - Everyone has different personalities
Candle - Bright Future
Question Mark - Blue to represent the river of life and we don't know what our future holds
Pictures - Reflection of everyone's life up to now
Affirmation Books - Friendship (true reflections and support for one another
20 candles to represent everyone here

They chose the following songs to play during their prayer service...

Castles in the Sky...we chose this because of the question "Do you ever question your life, do you ever wonder why?" It is good to reflect on life and it links with our session today.

Man in the Mirror...we chose this because it is important to make a change and try to become a better person in the future.

They chose to read the following scripture passage:

Salt and Light - Matthew 5:15 - the reason we chose this is because we are all like light on lampstands. We should shine and show off our talents that God gave us. Also shine before others focusing on the positive and not dwelling on the negative.



The group who came on Tuesday designed the focus you can see below. It represents a river of life and all the colours along the sides represent the uniqueness of each of us. The girls lit a candle for each person in the group and they put their rivers of life and affirmation booklets along the focus to include everyone's lives.

They chose the following music...


Ugly... We chose this song as it represents that everyone is equal and we only get judged on our actions as "people are all the same, and we only get judged by what we do." Calling someone ugly doesn't make you pretty, so don't be negative or hurtful to anyone. We're all beautiful in our own unique way.

You've Got a Friend in Me... We chose this song as it represents friendship. It also shows that no matter how difficult your life becomes you can always count on your closest friends. This song was used as Toy Story's theme tune as it shows the adventures and hard times of the group of friends and they always stick together through thick and thin.

Our thanks and very best wishes for the future go to all the year 14 girls. God bless.

Aquinas, Year 14

The Year 14 classes of Aquinas Grammar school made a return visit to the centre this week, having been here previously in Year 10.  A lot has changed in their individual lives since then and they are facing a year of yet more change.  We took the time to reflect with them on what they've learned about themselves as they have grown older and more mature.  We talked about faith and belief and God!  Below you will read some of the lovely prayers and reflections that were written during the days and see some photos from their prayer services.

We came together today

To think and talk and pray.

We refected on our faith,

Hoping our Lord will keep us safe.

Today we attended a retreat

Our negativity to defeat.

As we look towards university

We are filled with positivity.

Although we are sad to leave school behind,

Our trust in God we hope to find.

Together we are 14N.

In registration we'll see you again.

Amen

When voluteering to write a reflection we weren't quite sure what to write andi t was only when Julie, sitting beside us, started to sing "The World's Greatest" that we realised how relevant the lyrics are to us all. 

"If anybody asks me who I am

I stand up tall, look them in the face and say...

'I'm that star up in the sky.

I'm that mountain peak up high.

Hey, I made it.

I'm the world's greatest.'"

Today we learned that not only faith in God is important, but faith in ourselves an each other too!

Reflection

We have written a parable to explain the benefits of reflection. it is called The Parable of the Mirror.


There were once two mirrors. One was clean and could reflect everything he looked at perfectly. His best friend was another mirror but she was very dirty and she never reflected anything at all and this made her as sad as a bright object could be.
Eventually she asked her clean mirror friend,
"How do you be so happy? Why can you make loads of human friends?"
"Simple," said the clean mirror. "I simply spend a brief amount of time each day reflecting on myself."
"Wow, that's a great idea," said the dirty mirror. "Given that I am a mirror, I should have thought of that."
"Yes, you should have."
And now we are better mirrors.
Can you apply this to your own life?

We pray for those who seek to realise their potential,

that God may help them on their journey

and we thank God for helping us up until now a

nd hope that He will continue to do so.

Amen

We pray for those less fortunate than ourselves,

that the grace of God will help them through any difficulties.

At this time we especially remember those displaced by the floods in Pakistan.

Amen

We pray for the friendships in our lives,

that they will continue to develop in God's love.

Amen

Magic

As part of this prayer service we were treated to the mystery of a magic card trick leading to the message of the royalty of God. Don Bosco, the patron saint of young people, used many tricks and acrobatics in order to entertain the young people of his day, drawing them to himself in order to teach them about the love of God.

Today we met with our pals

In a place called De La Salle's

We said some prayers and sang a song

We learned what's right and what is wrong.

We drew a river or a tree

And then we let our minds run free.

We had some fun and had a laugh.

We would like to thank all the staff.

We shared our feelings in a book.

Now we can't wait to have a juke.

We had good fun all around,

It was definitely worth the £5!

You held my hand when life was tough

I thank God for the ones I love.

Amen

We thank you for the friends we have,

Through good times, bad times and the laughs.

Amen

We came to this centre for a retreat today.

A place to meditate, to think and pray.

We came here to reflect, to talk and to dream,

To move closer as a class, a group, a team.

In smaller groups we talked about feelings.

We talked about faith and love and meaning.

Now we leave with love in our hearts,

Knowing that, from God, we'll never be apart!

Today we pray for everyone in our world,

especially those who still look for God's love and stuggle to find it. 

We pray that they may come to peace with the hardships that they face.

Lord Hear us...

Today we pray for our extended community,

for the end of any conflict and that we all may

live together peacefully through God's love.

Lord hear us...

Today we pray for all students and staff at our school. 

We pray for our new Principal as she adjusts to her new role

and we pray that the loving nature of our school community may continue to grow.

Lord hear us...

We wish all the Year 14s success and blessings as they go forward in their school careers and beyond!

St. Joseph's Year 14

We got our year off to a great start here in the Pastoral Centre with the year 14 student's from St. Joseph's on the Ravenhill Road in Belfast.  The theme of our day was reflecting on the past and what it teaches us about the person we are now and how it shapes our future.  We were also thinking and talking about God and how or whether our faith has shaped us.

One of the things that came up on both days was the importance of our friendships. We all lean on our friends at various times in our lives and Year 14 is one of those times, because so much is going on, both academically and within each student, as they turn their minds towards moving on from school along many different pathways, into adulthood.

With these thoughts in mind, some of the student's wrote these beautiful prayers and reflections to read during our prayer service.

Dear Lord,
We've gathered to give thanks for Your great kindness which let us be together as friends.
You give us an opportunity to help and support one another last year and this year.
Help us to stay in this great harmony and continue to rely on each other as we do now.
We're thankful for the good start to the year and we pray for guidance to settle down and motivation to get through this hard year, with our friendship as strong as before.
Lord hear us...

Lord,
We thank You for giving us great people in our lives, friends and family.  Thank You for giving us education and the knowledge and courage that we needed. We thank You for the teachers who helped  and supported us and for our classmates.  Lord please help us through our last year in St. Joseph's.
Lord hear us...

Lord,
Thank You for life.  Thank You for always being there for us, especially in times of hardship.  Lord, please give us knowledge and wisdom for studying.  Help us to get good grades at the end of the school year and help us to become successful in our own lives.
Lord hear us...

Dear Lord,
We thank You for today. Thank You for letting us experience this wonderful activity. Thank You for making us realise our shortcomings in the past and forgive us for them.  With the understanding that we have gained earlier we also thank You for leading us to where we are today.  Thank You for all the blessings and graces You have bestowed on us.  May You continue to be a beacon of light that will guide us on the right path.
Lord hear us...

Dear God,
Bless the sick. Give them strength in the times of difficulty and keep them in Your care.
Everlasting Lord, hear us...

Dear God,
Pray for those who are in need.  Bless the souls of those tragically lost in the recent Pakistan floods. By praying for the needy we can show friendship towards them in the way we have shown each other today.
Lord hear us...

Dear God,
Can You bless and take care of everyone and everything.
Lord hear us...

 As you will read below the reflections were very personal and heartfelt...

Well lads, what can I say, you really are a fabulous bunch of people. Today I've learnt a lot about myself and others. As cheesy as all this sounds, these past seven years have been amazing:)  I really do feel privileged to have met such incredible people from all walks of life and it really has been a joy.

This year will be a challenge to us all, but what I've learnt from today is that we are all here for each other and together we can do anything.  You really are such a remarkable bunch of people and even though I know you all in different ways and to different extents, you really have made my school days the best of my life.

I've had a really wonderful day and I look forward to reading my book.  I would like to thank you all for making this day extra special. Today has made me think about a lot of things in my life!  I would like to thank all of you for making the past six years of my life enjoyable and memorable. Thank you for the memories.  I would like to thank Margaret, Caren, Michelle and Padraig for a really great day. It will be an experience that I'll always remember.

I had a very good day today, it was a chance for me to reflect on the past and think about the future. Just wanna say thanks to everyone for making the past four years.  It was the best choice my mum ever made forcing me to move to this school.  I feel so blessed to have met all of you and to have had this special day with you.  Thank you for making the best days of my life. Good luck in the future.

The focus below shows a heart to represent love with the letters F and S written beneath it, to represent friendship.

This focus shows a star of friendship. The different coloured cloths represent all the different personalities and nationalities within the group. The heart was made out of colours which represent the school colours and there were 17 candles lit, one for each member of the group.

We would like to thank the year 14 students for their great enthusiasm and we wish them very blessing as they journey into pastures new.